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Regine Jean-Louis
Mrs. Ippolito
Brave New World Essay
November 30, 2015
The world changes so rapidly, so how could anyone predict the future? People have different beliefs of how the world will be in the next few generations, but a main concern is whether the society will improve or downgrade. Huxley is a renowned author, but after Brave New World, he can be perceived as a theorist. Aldous Huxley suggests that happiness is slowly becoming an emotion that relies on superficial experiences as it is in Brave New World.
America is built on materialism and it created the idea that happiness is formed from consumption. Advertisements have successfully turned every major holiday into an opportunity for people to empty their pockets. For example,
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In the novel, the World State values happiness instead of truth. Soma blinds Brave New Worlders from seeing anything that is negative or distasteful. Drugs and alcohol help people escape reality and many people use because the truth is too painful for them to endure. Drugs transport people into a different world, their own world where they are on top because all of their problems have disappeared for the moment. But, without sorrow there is no real happiness. If someone is happy all the time, they wouldn’t even realize that they are experiencing joy, because that is all they are used to. They have never experienced any other type of emotion. Anger, fear and misery make people appreciate happiness because it is desired. In Brave New World, there is no such thing as desire as Mustapha Mond, the controller, explains, “People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can 't get...And if anything should go wrong, there 's soma” (Huxley 220). The government doesn’t understand that desire creates an appreciation for happiness, and when it is finally attained, it is a very strong emotion. When anything is handed to someone, as joy is in Brave New World, the value is drastically decreased. But, when there is anticipation or work is put in, the value will be justifiable. If Americans continue to rely on products for happiness, there will be no
In the novel “ Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley takes place in the future of a dystopian society where a particular government will rise to power and strip everyone of their individuality and freedom. Huxley uses the literary techniques of symbolism, allusion, and irony to portray the disadvantages of individuals in a dystopian society. In this totalitarian government, the people of BNW are subjected to act a certain way and to not step out the boundary that are made by the controllers. The controllers of the brave new world use the drug “soma” as a weapon against citizens, soma reduces the idea of satisfaction and is used calm down urges. The latin word for soma is “sleep” and it distracts everyone from what really is going on in this society. The use of soma is to depict the disadvantages that the people of the brave new world face. Happiness is given at an early age by the use of soma, this drug is the answer to the unwanted pain felt by individuals in BNW. While many might argue that alcohol should never be the answer to anything, some people in society continue to consume it.
The future of the world is a place of thriving commerce and stability. Safety and happiness are at an all-time high, and no one suffers from depression or any other mental disorders. There are no more wars, as peace and harmony spread to almost every corner of the world. There is no sickness, and people are predestined to be happy and content in their social class. But if anything wrong accidentally occurs, there is a simple solution to the problem, which is soma. The use of soma totally shapes and controls the utopian society described in Huxley's novel Brave New World as well as symbolize Huxley's society as a whole. This pleasure drug is the answer to all of life's little mishaps and also serves as an escape as well as entertainment. The people of this futuristic society use it in every aspect of their lives and depend on it for very many reasons. Although this drug appears to be an escape on the surface, soma is truly a control device used by the government to keep everyone enslaved in set positions.
“Twenty-seven years later, in this third quarter of the twentieth century A.D., and long before the end of the first century A.F., I feel a good deal less optimistic than I did when I was writing Brave New World. The prophecies made in 1931 are coming true much sooner than I thought they would.” Resting anxiously and awaiting the Final Revolution in his psychedelic afterlife, Aldous Huxley still echos an invaluable wisdom to the generations of today and the future. The prophecies he made in Brave New World, written in 1931, are some of the most compelling ever made through the medium of fictional prose narrative. The previous pessimistic postulation though was not made in his opus, but rather it is from Huxley 's non-fiction work Brave New World Revisited, written in 1958, in which he concluded
The novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley has been reviewed over time by many different people. Neil Postman is a man who has read Huxley’s novel and came to conclusions himself about the comparison between the novel, and the modern day problems we have in today’s society. Postman has made many relevant assertions as to how our modern society is similar to what Huxley had written about in his novel. The three main points I agree on with Postman is that people will begin to love their oppression; people would have no reason to fear books; and that the truth will be drowned by irrelevance.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” Thus, implying happiness can be determined by ones mindset. However, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World creates a vision of a utopian society that achieves happiness by altering the mindset of its populace to believe they are happy. In a society depicting such a strange ideology of the future, people are no longer as happy as they make their minds up to be, but as happy as the government allows them to be. Canadians are repugnant to Huxley’s world despite the many similar issues between Canada and the New World State. The excessive use of chemicals, obsession with consumerism and illusion of happiness prove that the Canadian society is becoming increasingly similar to the Brave New World.
In Huxley's Brave New World there are two forms of happiness: physical and actual. The fulfillment of physical happiness is the basis of the New World society. Residents never have to worry about food, shelter, job security, or sickness. One will never look fat, wrinkly or become weak with brittle bones and, thus, even the fear of growing old is taken away. Mustapha Mond, one of the world controllers in the novel, sums up physical happiness with the statement: ?The world is stable now?They?re well off; They?re safe; They are never ill; they?re not afraid of death; they?re blissfully ignorant of passion and old age??(Huxley 220). The characters, Bernard Marx, Lenina Crowne, and Helmholtz Watson are each looking for more than what is offered by physical happiness, they are looking for actual happiness. Actual happiness ?relates more to the mind and heart? (HH Dalai Lama 21). For example, Helmholtz has the desire to be creative and Lenina has the desire to love. Bernard Marx, knowing that he is different and considered inferior to other Alpha-plus males, has the desire to not only fit in, but to be respected by others. Other individuals in the Brave New World are content while these three characters are searching for something not given to them by the government, something beyond physical happiness. They are searching for actual happiness.
The society uses one’s happiness to seek their own. Starting with the ancient Adam Smith’s theory of a market economy where commodities are sold and bought in a market freely, where sellers and buyers exchange to achieve profit, and happiness is derived from profit. Thus “happiness is both produced and consumed” (Ahmed 3). Happiness is a matter of research for corporates of big companies. They try to figure out which product makes the buyers feel the happiness they need, so that they can produce more for their own profit. So, they cunningly make commercials with people having a good time. Which when watched by the buyers they get the false sense that their life would be so much better if they bought that small bottle of happiness. Once they buy their “Pandora’s box” they hope that underneath all the unnecessary objects there will be happiness, but they are dispirited at the end. Unknowingly the markets are making the society a more dull and sad place rather than distributing
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World portrays a society in which science has clearly taken over. This was an idea of what the future could hold for humankind. Is it true that Huxley’s prediction may be correct? Although there are many examples of Huxley’s theories in our society, there is reason to believe that his predictions will not hold true for the future of society.
The meaning of happiness is a vague concept. Mankind has always tried to achieve this state of well-being even though there isn’t a clear definition. Brave New World tells the story of a society where there is nothing but happiness, just like a utopia, but it is considered a dystopian setting by the modern society. In modern society, there is a simple road that most people follow to achieve happiness: earning enough money for education, getting a university degree, a prestigious and high-paying job, and a stable marriage. To some, the road is mostly about a circle of finding ways to earn and spend money. It seems like a bleak lifestyle when looked at from a different perspective. From a modern perspective the world of BNW is the dystopian one. To understand why BNW is considered dystopian and how different (or not) it is from the modern life; the methods of creating happiness in BNW and modern life should be analyzed, and the values of the modern society and the values of the society of BNW should be compared.
The 20th Century and late 19th Century were periods of great turbulence. Aldous Huxley’s writing of Brave New World, a fictional story about a dystopian society managed by drugs, conditioning, and suppression, was greatly influenced by these turmoils and movements. Occurrences such as World War I, the Roaring Twenties, the second Scientific Revolution, the Great Depression, Modernism, the Industrial Revolution, Henry Ford, and many others had a significant impact upon Huxley’s thoughts, expressed through Brave New World.
There have been philosophers that have been philosophizing for thousands of years. Discovering new ideas and different ways to think about things. Thinking in new, creative ways is an inevitable future that humanity will face unless stagnancy in the development of technology and morality occurs. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World displays this possibility incredibly and makes stagnancy look unappealing. With stagnancy and lack of new and imaginative thoughts, however, complete happiness seems like a less menacing task than before. Nobody questions why certain luxuries are not available. The whole world can be content. Why would this not be favorable for humanity? Happiness is hindered greatly by the ability to think.
Many individuals wonder about whether using artificial pathways to happiness, through drugs, yields more positive or negative results for society. People enjoy the fact that they can easily escape from their stress by using these drugs. However, these drugs also can lead to terrible consequences, such as becoming more oblivious to reality or overdosing. In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Huxley criticizes society’s reliance on drugs to provide citizens with artificial happiness. By writing about soma, a made-up drug that the government distributes in order to ensure that their citizens remain happy, Huxley implies that the allowance of similar drugs can lead individuals to become dependent on them and fine with their lack of freedom,
The main goal of Brave New World’s society is to create a balance social stability, and happy individuals. To create such a world; feelings, passions, and relationships are nonexistent. No one has parents, children, or lover. Instead, everyone belongs to anyone. There is no emotional attachment; nothing is valued, only physical interaction. When one feels negative emotions, that society cannot control, such as humiliation and stress, a drug called soma is taken to feel content and impassive again. Great works of literature, such as Shakespeare, religious texts, and art are forbidden in the society because it can cause passion and curiosity beyond what they have been programmed to know. Even science is suppressed for it searches for truth, and according to the novel, truth gets in the way of happiness. ( ) While one can evaluate the novel and view all who are a part of the ...
It is not a shocker that a book about people living “the good life”, high on happy pills all the time, and not having a care in the world was written. The people wanted to be happy, and when a book about everyone being happy came out, it excelled. This new society was suppose to be a utopia, where everyone was happy, but once you’ve read it, you’ll know that is not the case. The world these people are living in is not good, because people are walking around in a haze. It’s the kind of book that makes you happy about what you’ve got.
Even though the novel, Brave New World was written quite some time ago, Huxley still makes points that are relevant today. By using satire, he warns us on issues such as science, technology and religion. We should slow down our uses of science and technology, especially when using them for abusive purposes. We also need to be careful about letting the government get too involved in aspects of our everyday lives. If we start letting simple freedoms go, we could lose some major ones.